Reprogrammed (Hunter Angst)

A New Pair Of Socks

The check-in process was pretty close to what Darius had described. They walked into the closest building, greeted the receptionist, and then Darius signed some paperwork after giving the young man at the front some information about Hunter. Camila stood beside the teenager, rubbing his back.

After the paperwork (which was alarmingly long and wordy) was signed by Darius's pen, a nurse escorted him to another room where the check-in process continued. Workers also came and collected the things that each person had toted in. Meanwhile, in a bland, white room they had him step on a scale, measured his weight and height, and then asked him more questions. The most alarming thing that the nurses did was search him like some kind of criminal.

They rooted around in his empty pockets, looked down his shirt, patted around his thighs. This strange behavior was explained away as "making sure that he wasn't carrying anything that wasn't allowed." Hunter had no idea what was and wasn't 'allowed', but he didn't like the sound if it all.

The strangest thing of all was when they made him take his shoes off, and asked him to put on a pair of socks instead.

Eventually, they carted him out of that room and up an elevator. The entire time, a doctor was explaining all the benefits that other patients had received from their care at this facility. Darius and Camila nodded. Hunter scratched at his arms.

When the elevator door dinged and the doctor stepped out, Hunter was immediately greeted with an obnoxious, burning sterile smell. It was sort of like what the hospital smelled like, but this seemed... worse. Nurses bustled around, other patients, all wearing socks, wandered around, chatting with workers and other patients alike. The doctor lead Hunter's group down the hallway, yammering on with random reassurances and praises about the program. He sounded kind of like an infomercial.

Hunter's eyes glanced nervously around as they made the march to his new quarters. As they passed by various other rooms, his eyes desperately soaked up every detail. There were groups of people doing random activities in each room: sitting in circles talking, playing board games, talking, drawing, some of them watching TV on what looked like the oldest TV known to mankind.

Teenagers in the dozens participated in all of these activities. They all looked to be about his age, some a little older, some a little younger. Finally , they got to his room. Another bed sat parallel to his, sheets slightly messy and unmade. His stuff sat on his own bed, the blankets perfectly tucked in and prim. A second pair of socks also accompanied the bags. His room was sterile, barren, with hard linoleum tiles beneath his feet.

"Alright, Hunter, this is our stop. Any time that we have breaks, free time, or lights out, you'll come here. The hospital staff is happy to wash anything that you might need. Do you have any questions for me?"

When do I get to leave this hellhole? Hunter chose to shrug instead, feigning acceptance.

"Alright, then. Unfortunately, this is the part where you have to say goodbye to your parents. I'll leave you all to it."

"They're caretakers, not parents." Hunter corrected as the man excused himself. He smirked a little as Darius rolled his eyes.

"We'll visit as often as we can, and I'll be sure to keep Darius in the loop." Camila encouraged, turning Hunter's face to the side so that she could kiss his cheek no less than a dozen times. "Muchos besos para mi niño grande! Te quiero!" She said while ruffling his hair.

Then, she stepped into the doorway and waited for Darius to finish his goodbyes. The coven head was much less... enthusiastic , opting instead to ruffle Hunter's hair again.

"I'll visit whenever I can, and I'll keep you updated about the Isles. Feel better soon!"

Hunter's heart sunk a little as they left. A knock on the frame of the entryway brought him back to the present.

"Howdy again, Hunter. I know you'll need a little bit of time to settle in, but I'd love to give you a rundown of our facility and procedures so you won't have to be confused. That sound fine?" The same doctor from earlier informed him.

Together, they walked down the halls, Hunter's socked feet padding quietly next to the clack of the taller man's medical clogs. He blabbed on about a great many things, schedules, meal times, where the bathroom was, and rule after rule after rule. So many guidelines in this place, Hunter hated it.

The more he looked around, the more he noticed. Many rooms did not have doors, just empty doorways. Everyone wore socks, except nurses and doctors. The windows were all made with reinforced glass, any cabinet had a bulky lock on it. Every nurse, custodian, and hospital worker carried around huge keyrings, looped to their scrubs or jammed in a pocket. The few patients he saw writing or drawing all used soft pens. In the cafeteria, they only served food with plastic, flimsy silverware and paper plates.

No weapons, no way for anyone to hide or hurt themselves with anything. No way to defend himself . Every second he spent inside of these terrible barren walls was another second his anxiety doubled.

Ten minutes after their tour began, it ended in a psychiatrist's office. She introduced herself; another strict looking bland woman who was a little more straightforward than what was reasonably appropriate. She told him right off the bat that they were looking into changing his Sertraline dose, and that they were also exploring the option of getting him a different anxiety medication.

"Hopefully we'll get you some medication that... doesn't inspire another overdose, hm?" she said. Was that her version of a joke? He thought angrily. This place was terrible. The more that he thought about it, the clearer the plan in his mind became. His goal was to get back into the Demon Realm as quickly as possible. If he could find a way to convince these stupid humans that he was perfectly capable of getting better by himself, then he'd be back at school with his friends before the end of the week.

Easy, right?